Justice News

Former DoD Contractor Sentenced in Contracting Kickbacks Case

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Robert W. Gannon, 54, of Bangkok, the former director of operations of a Department of Defense contracting company in Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 12 months and one day in prison for soliciting and receiving $193,665 in kickback proceeds in return for steering U.S. government subcontracts to a U.K. company. Gannon was also ordered to depart the U.S. immediately following completion of his prison sentence; not return to the U.S. without permission; pay a fine of $193,665; and is prohibited from employment with or work with the U.S. military.

Gannon pleaded guilty on Nov. 4, 2015. According to court documents, Gannon’s job responsibilities included identifying, evaluating and monitoring subcontracts. Gannon admitted that he used his position to arrange with executives of a U.K.-based company that they would make kickback payments to Gannon in return for a series of purchase orders Gannon’s company awarded in August 2009 with a total value of nearly $6 million. Those orders called for the provision of explosive ordinance disposal equipment to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. In return for his efforts, Gannon admitted that the U.K. company wired funds with a total value of almost $200,000 from bank accounts in the United Kingdom to Gannon’s account in Singapore.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; John F. Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction; Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Robert Craig, Special Agent in Charge for Defense Criminal Investigative Service Mid-Atlantic Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris.

This case was investigated by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Mid-Atlantic Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lytle of the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Wade Weems of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-cr-277.